The reading list and schedule for the 2026 Astrobiology and Panzoic Book Club is now out! cosmobiota.substack.com/p/the-astrob...

On the 13th day of Christmas that true love better also be buying me a ranch with enough acreage and supplies to support all these friggin' birds.

In Probable Impossibilities, Alan Lightman explores how our current knowledge of the universe suggests that from the earliest recognizable time to the heat death of the universe covers something like 82 powers of ten in relative time.

One intriguing idea I picked up in Alan Lightman's book Probable Impossibilities is that: Halving something about the size of a human body 33 times gets to the size of atoms. Doubling something about the size of a human body 30 times gets to the size of a star like our Sun.

My newest piece in The Cosmobiologist explores the range of alien invasion scenarios and some of the things we've imagined could be terrifying about contact with alien life. cosmobiota.substack.com/p/alien-inva...

Something overheard at #AGU: Man: “I miss the beer” Woman: “ I don’t… I don’t miss certain old men coming up to me and being like “your science is so good, that’s such smart science to come from someone so beautiful” Yeah, ick. Remember that many of us are having different lived experiences.

Heading off to New Orleans for the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting. Never been there before, so I’m super excited to see the city while also getting to represent Blue Marble Space at the meeting. #AGU

Lorena Soriano is conducting a stakeholder analysis for her Masters thesis on space sustainability. This survey will look at environmental, social, and governance items in space exploration. 🔗 harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

My PhD advisor, Dr. Alexis Templeton, was recognized with the 126th Distinguished Research Lecture at the University of Colorado Boulder last month! www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFPp...

Exploring the nature of challenge in episodes of Foundation and Star Trek: Voyager, my own physical challenge during a recent ayahuasca ceremony, and why I think Yoda didn’t do such a good job supporting Luke after the cave scene in Empire Strikes Back. cosmobiota.substack.com/p/the-road-o...

Are you working on how space inspires awe, alters worldviews, and shapes human behaviors? Submit an abstract to the session that @cosmobiologist.bsky.social, Julia DeMarines, Mark Neyrinck, and I are convening at #AbSciCon26!

My episode with John Michael Godier for the Event Horizon Show is now live! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmse...

Some thoughts this Friday on how to use AI well, issues with sending messages to aliens, and a recent paper suggesting our brains have five ages of life. cosmobiota.substack.com/p/thinking-w...

I have a new article out in Meditation Magazine on the nature of hope, hopelessness, and awe. The piece is titled “Finding Hope and Awe in the Futures We Can Imagine”. You can read it in this free digital version of the issue (and order a print copy, if you’d like!). hope.meditationmag.com

My previous PhD advisor is giving a talk tomorrow for the 2025-26 Distinguished Research Lectureships at CU Boulder! www.colorado.edu/researchinno...

We can imagine different parts of ourselves, but we can’t place everything bad against everything good and assume it’s just so simple as giving energy to one or the other. cosmobiota.substack.com/p/the-two-wo...

Some brief Friday Meanderings on misinformation and AI panspermia, the nature of time and our perception of it, as well as addressing the claimed anomalies about 3I/ATLAS cosmobiota.substack.com/p/ai-pansper...

I’m stoked to join in for a panel on space science at the Space Education Summit today. Lots of cool talks throughout the day from some incredible people in realms of space exploration and the space industry! spaceeducation.squarespace.com/schedule

If biospheres on alien worlds develop predation as a form of symbiosis, I have to wonder what similarities and differences there may be to life as we know it.

Our newest article on SAGANet from Catherine Maggiori is an exploration of the new paper out by Nozair Khawaja and team on the analysis of ejected ice grains from Enceladus. www.saganet.org/articles/cas...

Language may be humanity’s oldest technology, and, as Mark Pagel argued in 2011, language may have developed to solve a crisis of visual theft. But would alien civilizations have any form of language similar to our own? cosmobiota.substack.com/p/language-a...

Yesterday marked 25 years of continuous human presence in space. Since 2 November of 2000, there’s always been some number of people living and working in space on the ISS or Tiangong or traveling back and forth from orbit on various spacecraft.

We too often think of aliens as being either microbial or animal like, but given the overwhelming breadth and sheer amount of plant life on Earth it makes more sense to wonder if aliens might have more in common with the plant life of our planet. cosmobiota.substack.com/p/the-alien-...

Music, art, writing, poetry. Create. People share your feelings. They might not feel what you felt in the creation, but when you share yourself through creation it opens a path for someone else to connect with your creation and to feel it. Your voice is our voice, and we all want to speak together.

Some random thoughts on 3I/ATLAS, Halloween, and definitions of life for the weekend. open.substack.com/pub/cosmobio...

Definitely been going all-in on Substack and Notes lately. Finally finding some place that feels like it’s better than what Twitter used to be. Hit me up if you’re over there as well! substack.com/@cosmobiolog...

Fun reminder that if a malevolent alien force really wanted to invade the Earth, it is highly unlikely that could survive (no matter where you live). cosmobiota.substack.com/p/friday-mea...

It’s soon going to be 18 years since my first analog astronaut mission at the Mars Desert Research Station! Here’s a video one of our crew members made back in 2012 using video he recorded during our mission. vimeo.com/locomomo/liv...

The process of writing on Substack has really shown me how far some of my little notes and ideas I've had over the years can go when I simply start typing and stop worrying about being perfect.

The shutdown means we can’t have an episode of Ask an Astrobiologist this month, but we can still celebrate the 24 year history of the show thus far! cosmobiota.substack.com/p/stay-curio...

Alien worlds may be like books in a universal library, each holding their own languages and ideas and stories of biological and technological development. Some worlds may spread and become multi-planetary, making for a series of “books” about their worlds. cosmobiota.substack.com/p/the-librar...

Many thanks to all who've subscribed to my weekly newsletter (and occasional "Friday Meanderings"). It's been so much fun to share these ideas and get them all down in writing after years and years of building up notes and writing so much. cosmobiota.substack.com

One more day to submit abstracts for the IAU symposium on Advancing the Search for Technosignatures. The meeting will take place 206 March of 2026. Submit your abstracts now! iaus404.bmsis.org

"In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success—if you are willing to learn from it." - Paul Allen

Should we continue sending humans into space? What will our future look like if we develop settlements on the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere? What are the ethical realities of space exploration? cosmobiota.substack.com/p/the-ethics...

Our article, led by Anamaria Berea, on the connections between studies in space settlement and astrobiology is now out in the journal Space Policy. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I like to sing the antithesis to TLC when using my face scrub, because when it comes to cleaning off the ol’ flesh wrapper for my skull I actually do want some scrubs.

Our future could be one of self-destruction or sustainable growth. It could be one of isolation or exploring and settling elsewhere. We have choices to make collectively, but we lose our power when we allow systems of wealth inequality to control our civilization.

Trying something new this week at The Cosmobiologist. A little smattering from my writing notes over the last few months. open.substack.com/pub/cosmobio...

Off to the New Zealand Air Force Museum where Hari Mogoșanu will interview 6-time space mission veteran, Michael López-Alegría.

This is the cover of the 1977 issue of Newsweek where Sharon Bagley wrote "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known" at the end of an article that included quotes from Carl Sagan. It's a fantastical quote, but one that often is misattributed to Sagan himself.

Maybe the ants have been trying to communicate with us and we just haven't noticed. Or, maybe they think whatever we are isn't trying to communicate with them 😂

What if every living world and every technological civilization is its own library—each planet a “book” in the grand archive of the universe? cosmobiota.substack.com/p/the-librar...

As a scientist who speaks with students often about careers in the sciences and engineering, I can say wholeheartedly that, while it is crucial to develop our skills in mathematics and realms of the sciences, we need the beauty and depth of the experience and imagination to make it all worthwhile.

U.S. Embassy New Zealand - New Zealand Astrobiology Network Astrobiology Celebration astrobiology.com/2025/10/u-s-... #astrobiology #NewZealand #Aotearoa @cosmobiologist.bsky.social

Sometimes taking a moment to feel the wonder and awe of living and experiencing this universe is enough to remind us of why we carry on, why we should care for each other, and why we can’t let gloom and the wishes of narcissistic people overcome the light within us.

Off to the observatory! I drove on the right-hand side of a car for the first time tonight (well, I pulled a vehicle forward and then backed it up again, but close…). Radio New Zealand in the morning and then helping Hari Mogoșanu put together her weight rack (fitness on the way 💪).

Before my feed becomes all Taylor/SHOWGIRL: World Space Week starts Saturday & we're celebrating all next week! Join us on Tuesday Oct 7 at noon ET for a live Zoom call on Women in Space: Claiming Power & Creating Equity 💫 Link in next comment - submit your questions by Monday evening! 💜✨🪐☀️